TOP CLASSICAL CDs for 2012

Classical CDs full of aural pleasures

My 10 selections are not the "best" recordings of 2012, only ones that represent some of the recordings that have given me particular pleasure this past year.

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (with performing version of the finale). Berlin Philharmonic, Simon Rattle, conductor (EMI): The "conclusive revised version" of the last movement Rattle and his Berliners present here probably is as close as anyone will ever get to realizing the composer's intentions.

Arvo Part: "Adam's Lament." Various ensembles, Tonu Kaljuste, conductor (ECM New Series): On the title track, Orthodox-style chant and ethereal strings combine with greater dramatic intensity than is usual with Part.

John Adams: "Harmonielehre." San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (SFSMedia): Its three movements reconcile the driving pulse of American minimalism with the rhetorical power of late Romanticism, particularly Sibelius. It receives its most committed performance to date from Thomas and his orchestra.

Britten: "War Requiem." Soloists, London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Gianandrea Noseda, conductor (LSO Live, two CDs): Noseda and his forces balance consolation and rage in an eloquent recording that challenges the composer's own, even if it doesn't surpass it.

Wagner: "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg." Soloists, Berlin Radio Symphony and Chorus, Marek Janowski, conductor (Pentatone, four SACD CDs): Janowski's urgency and attention to detail, along with the superlative singing, orchestral playing, choral work and recorded sound, make this a competitive set among modern recordings.

Barber: "An American Romantic." Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, director (Harmonia Mundi): Apart from "Agnus Dei," the composer's choral output is little known. Here we are given the bulk of it, including a new version for chamber chorus and orchestra of his late masterpiece, "The Lovers," a somber setting of Pablo Neruda poems about a dying relationship. Barber's warmly lyrical romanticism shines brightly in these performances..

Casella: Orchestral works ("La donna serpente" orchestral fragments, Concerto for Orchestra, etc.). Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, Francesco La Vecchia, conductor (Naxos, two separate CDs): The two newest entries in Naxos' worthwhile survey of Casella's orchestral works display both his neoclassical side and his early modernist bent. If you don't know Casella's music, these discs make an excellent starting point.

Rameau: Complete harpsichord works. Jory Vinikour, harpsichord (Sono Luminus, two CDs): Far from specialists' repertory, these Baroque solo keyboard pieces are replete with charming musical invention. The Chicago-born harpsichordist is fully inside the French style, which you would expect from a musician who's long been based in Paris.